C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

“ Arab men adore their women, and—distrust them.
To-night, however, might well be an exception to his rule. Laila was away, banished to the country. So far as El Khadra knew, the bride was submissive, after her brief, childish rebellion. Lella Aïssa was delighted with the marriage, contented in every way with her own lot and Ourïeda's. The women servants were ecstatically interested in the feastings, and had no wish to leave the scene of attraction; besides, the door was guarded by two of the stolid, fat negroes upon whom El Khadra, like other Arabs of his class, almost implicitly relied. ”

“ Hesitatingly, but not knowing what else to do, she opened the door of the drawing-room for the fairy princess, and Ourïeda walked in, flinging her veil down upon a chair. A cheap Japanese screen, for the flat was taken ready furnished—hid most of the room, until she passed round it, and the door had shut behind her, when, to her surprise, something moved on a bed-sofa which faced the window. A head lifted itself from a bank of cushions—a man's head, and a pair of eyes like those she had seen in dreams looked at her—at first in sheer surprise, then in dazzled admiration. ”

“ He did not know that while others made songs in her honor, to sing on the day of her wedding, the bride sang under her breath the old Arab love ballad, saddest of all: “How sweet is death, yet how far sweeter still, is the flower forbidden, whose fragrance kills.”
Ourïeda was in her own room, when Norah arrived, though the salon of the harem was filled with guests, laughing and chatting with Lella Aïssa. The girl had complained of a headache, and was lying down; but the message came that she would see Miss Luck, and Hemar led the visitor to her young mistress. ”

“ It will not be seen under my veil, when I go out, and it is still damp,” said Ourïeda. She thought that Norah would like to see it so—for the last time.
“At least, thou wilt give me thy little hands to make beautiful with my rosy lotion?”
“The tips of my fingers only,” replied the girl firmly. “I hate to see the whole fingers red, as our Arab ladies have them. They look wicked, as if they had been dipped in blood. I will have mine as a Roumia friend wears hers; only the ends stained.”
Her delicate little face, with its great eyes, expressed so much decision that Zakia yielded ”

“ Invitations had been sent out to half aristocratic Tunis, for the last feastings at the home of El Khadra, and to see the bride in her wedding finery before her departure; on the part of Lella Aïssa, who would entertain the women splendidly in the harem; on the part of El Khadra, who would entertain the bridegroom and a large company of men in his own part of the house. Four cooks were busy, preparing every sort of fantastic dainty; dancers and musicians were engaged to amuse the guests. No one talked of anything but the wedding, and Ourïeda's future happiness. ”

“ Then Lella Nedjma, as the woman most nearly related to him—for his mother is dead—will bring me water to drink, and Si Mohammed will drink from the same glass. In our religion that is a sign that we have been made one, and so we shall be actually married; though I shall not see him again till late next day, when all the feasting will be over, and we will be left alone.
“Oh, dear Miss Luck, dear Norah, if I could die before that time! It will be too late, when I have gone to Si Mohammed's house, for I shall be his wife, and cannot betray him. ”

“ With the little pearl-handled knife, Zakia peeled off the adhering paste, and Ourïeda's fingers appeared, tinted a deep rose, the nails glittering.
It was even earlier than they had dared hope when the sisters escaped from the Moorish baths, having bestowed gold coins on Zakia and the attendants. But Miloud, guessing from what he knew of the plan that they would waste no time, was already at the door with the carriage. He enjoyed driving, as much as the old coachman enjoyed fingering the silver pieces which had bribed him to be ill. ”

“ CHAPTER XIV. THE APPEAL. At first Pat Lassels would not believe Norah when she told him that Ourïeda was to be married in a week. Then, when she had convinced him that there was no mistake, that the bride was the girl he had seen, the look on Pat's face frightened his sister.
“What is it, dearest?” she asked. “Are you ill again?”
“I love her,” he answered, “and I think she cares for me. I swear she shan't be married against her will to a brute of an Arab, whom she's never seen. The thing is monstrous.” ”

“ Even there, the heat began to be intense, and damp, as in a greenhouse. The two girls went in together, escorted by their negress, who also wore a veil, not because she was young and beautiful, but because she would not admit to herself that she had passed the happy age, the flower of Mussulman womanhood, when veiling is obligatory. At the end of the hall, a door was thrown open for them by a bath attendant, a plump girl, dressed only in a short robe of gauzy, yellow material, which clung to her warm body and golden-bronze limbs. ”

“ Luckily for the sisters, however, the day, which had begun with warmth and sunshine, turned cold and windy toward afternoon, threatening one of Tunis' rare, fierce storms. Arab women dislike cold, and fear it, especially after the warmth of the rooms in a Moorish bath; therefore all who had been invited sent excuses by their servants, with little gifts of perfumes, flowers, and spangled sweets to Ourïeda, things which they had meant to bring. ”

“ When your brother comes to know what has happened, it will kill him. He's not strong enough yet to stand a great shock. So if you want to save him you'll have to be my wife.”
Perhaps the man would have kept his word, and shot her, if she had refused, perhaps not; but his revolver was still in his pocket, and Winthrop gave him no time to pull it out. Prevali dropped Norah's hand, which she had been vainly trying to free, and held up both his, helpless rage in his eyes and his haggard, white face. ”

“ How could she ever have lived without him? As soon as Pat was a little stronger, she and he together would tell Winthrop all about themselves, their true name, and the whole story.
Knowing that Pat had fallen asleep before she started out, and not wishing to disturb him, she did not stop at her own flat, on coming home, but went immediately to that of the Arab doctor, where she had arranged to meet Laila and the bride elect. “Poor little Ourïeda! Norah could hardly bear to think of the forced marriage, and the monotonous future, to which the girl looked forward hopelessly. ”

“ She was engaged by those who could afford her coveted services, not only to give this bath in the great bathhouse, but afterward to spend a week in the bride's house, anointing her face and body with scented emollients, tinting her brows and lashes, showing her how to “make up” her complexion for her husband's admiration when, at last. he should be permitted to lift her veil, in his own harem. So it was to be in the case of Ourïeda. To-night, Zakia, the “hennena,” would sleep under the roof with her, and would remain until the bride went to the bridegroom. ”

“ After all, we may have the wedding. Who knows but in the morning——”
“There will be no morning of joy for us,” the old woman broke in upon him. “I tell thee again, the darkness of night has fallen upon our home, though the bridal lights are still burning.” ”

“ So it was that the preparations for Ourïeda's marriage went on, and she dared speak no further of her meeting with Pat Lassels; for Lella Nedjma had warned her that, if El Khadra or Mohammed learned that she had talked with him alone, soon and surely he would disappear, and no one would ever hear more of him in this world, or know how he had died. ”

“ It's you who don't understand,” Norah broke in, almost angrily, still holding her friend in her arms. “Listen! There's a knock! If her people have come for her! There's some plot, I'm afraid—for I was told to expect her and Laila in the flat upstairs. But there's no time to explain. If you don't want her to suffer—go!”
There was that in her voice which killed objection. Without another word, without seeing Ourïeda's face again, Pat went. And almost as the door of the adjoining room closed after him, the salon door was opened by Jeanne, to admit Lella Nedjma. ”

“ I was taken by surprise for the instant, and so I behaved foolishly. Girls of our race do not show their faces to men, except those of their own family; but it is a convention, not a law, made by our Prophet. We all know that; yet we yield, and most of us have no wish for a different rule. In this case, however, no harm is done. Thou art my dear Miss Luck's well-loved brother, and I trust thee, though I would not have come into this room if I had known thou wert here. ”

“ Even as they whispered together the dancers were going. Already all sorts of expensive and rare food had begun to be served to the men, whose turn, in Arab houses, comes before that of the women, even at a feast; and while El Khadra's friends ate, and drank delicious sherbets, the famous professionals would dance their strange dances of the far Southern desert. ”

“ There is so much to do, every servant is needed.”
“Could you and I go and stand near that door in the patio? For I don't believe anything could be done with this grille. Pat wouldn't think of its existence. His idea was a door on the ground floor, I am sure.”
“We could follow the two dancers, who must pass through that door, which will be locked after them. Others will follow, too, to have a last look at the dancers' jewels. It will not be thought nice of me to go—but what matter? And nobody, not even Aunt Aïssa, or Lella Nedjma, will scold the bride to-night.” ”

“ And rather than let her brother know that she had risked scandal for his sake, she had been silent about that visit. Afterward, when Pat had gone to France to fight the duel which had broken his career, she had wondered agonizingly if Prevali had spoken evil of her, if Pat had fought to protect her, though insisting that the quarrel had arisen over bridge. ”

“ For no difference of race or religion can stand before such a love as I'll prove mine to be. Not even your father——”
“Ah, but there is more—more even than all that, to part us,” Ourïeda cut him short. “I must tell thee——”
3ut the door opened, and she started to her feet, breaking away from him in terror. For an instant the screen hid them both, until Pat, too, was on his feet; but Norah, who came in, white and quivering with the strain she had passed through, gave a cry of dismay when she saw the Arab girl and her brother together. ”

“ And Lord Conron can do his best to live down Pat Lassels.”
“Pat Lassels doesn't need to be lived down!” Norah protested. “Right or wrong, I'll take the letter. I warn you, though, it will be useless. She's the sweetest child in the world, but to attempt what you ask would need a woman, strong and courageous as I think no Arab woman is. And even if she dared, the attempt would be almost sure to fail.”
That same night, the night of the second day after Prevali's arrest, Paul Winthrop asked Norah to marry him. ”

“ In his hand he carried a rather large, flat parcel; and when Winthrop arrived to fetch the brother and sister, Pat gave this bundle to Norah.
“I want you to take it to Ourïeda,” he said. 'Give it to her when she is alone, if you can. If not, make a joke of the thing. Say it's another wedding present, which you would like to give her when nobody was looking on. In the package, just on top, is a letter, explaining everything. If she cares, and is brave, as I believe she can be, she will do what I tell her. ”

“ That very night she should go to the country, and remain in his house there, watched by servants whom she could not bribe.
If, in spite of all, her Cousin Mahmoud still wished to marry her, well and good; let him quietly take her from her prison, and make her his wife; there should be no ceremony, no rejoicing. ”

“ Instead of going back to her own house, to pick up the girl, and take her home with Ourïeda, the old woman ordered her negro to tell Miloud that he must drive at once to his master's. There, she explained to Lella Aïssa the plot which she believed Laila to have conceived and carried out; and Aunt Aïssa passed on to El Khadra as much of the story as the two women thought a man should know. ”

“ If an alarm comes—no matter of what kind—don't be frightened, but stand in front of and protect her from being seen, until she says to you: 'Sauve qui peut?' That will be her signal for you to run and scream, and do whatever the rest are doing. ”

“ No one was hurt. The house was apparently not on fire. El Khadra's orders began to make themselves heard. It was suspected that the alarm was a thieves' plot; yet no one seemed to have been robbed, although some of the guests had disappeared; among others, Lord Conron and his sister had gone, but no one cared, since their only friend. present was Paul Winthrop; and Paul Winthrop drew nobody's attention to their absence.
At first, when Ourïeda could not be found, it was thought that she had rushed away in a panic, to hide herself ”